You can set up a Neighborhood Watch group

March 19, 2006

Neighborhood Watch is a grass-roots program made up of volunteers who agree to be a block captain or join the program. Block captains receive messages from their local police department concerning crimes that occur within the block captain's neighborhood, such as burglaries, robberies, auto thefts, special meetings, etc. The block captain will then relay this information to their neighbors, whose membership has been coordinated through the police department. Neighborhood Watch meetings are easy to arrange. Topics at a crime prevention meeting can cover recent crime statistics, home security, available grant programs and a question-and-answer period. If you would like to find out if you live near a Neighborhood Watch group, or if you are interested in becoming a block captain in your area, phone the appropriate police contact from the list below. We are always in need of more volunteers to help keep our neighborhoods safe! If you live:in South Bend Call the South Bend Police Department's Crime Prevention Unit at 235-9037. in Mishawaka Call Capt. Dan Gebo of the Mishawaka Police Department at 258-1678, ext. 274 elsewhere in St. Joseph County Call Capt. Frank Anderson at (574) 235-9569.